Happy Sunday everyone. Today I want to talk about the first be happy attitude.
“Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
[Bible, Matthew 5:3]
The word poor in Aramaic could mean “impoverished or depleted”. It could also mean “lacking in ability” or it could mean you lack money or intelligence. There is also emotional poverty. According to Glenda Green’s Love Without End, in Aramaic poor also could also mean simple and uncomplicated. We humans tend to complicate everything. There are times I try to explain something and make it so complicated when it could be said in much simpler ways and still be well understood. The film character, Forrest Gump lacked intelligence yet his simple statements were amazing. His life flowed from one thing to the next without complications. It was just the next best thing to do. He did not introduce complexities into spiritual and everyday life.
Remember the acronym KISS – keep it simple stupid. Think of the times Jesus talked about the many laws placed on the Jews. In Romans 6:14, he said “You are not under law, but under grace.” The Pharisees wanted to keep people under the law, which is just the opposite of what Jesus taught. We still have so many rules to live by in all religions. In the Catholic Church, missing church on a Sunday is a sin unless is special circumstances. Jesus didn’t teach that. In some religions, there are fasting laws. If you feel led to fast, that’s great. However, giving your power over to someone or something else diminishes who you are—a thought of Love in form. See what pops into your head as you put some thought into what you have been taught. Do those rules ring as Truth, or are you following them because someone else said you have to? All you need to do is live under grace.
Live from Spirit; that is what we are part of, everyone and everything. Spirit is in you and me, in the rock and tree. EVERYTHING. Spirit is the same in all. And Spirit is free. IT IS FREE. You don’t buy Spirit or earn Spirit; it is embedded in everything. Spirit is expansive and has no boundaries. You do not need permission from structure or hierarchies to obtain it. Structure was not created by God but by us.
Hierarchies have boundaries. They limits us; we were created to be expansive, to evolve. That is how Spirit is, unlimited and always evolving. Never complicated. Jesus had a simple notion of how to live this way.
Jesus taught there were two important commandments “Love your God with all your heart…” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (NIV Luke 10:27). Every commandment is a branch of these two. Now that is truly simple. No other rules are needed because, if you live by this everything else will fall in place. Though this is simple, it does not mean it is easy. Before we can Love our neighbor as ourself, we first need to look at ourselves without judgment and accept ourselves right where we are in the moment. It does not mean we don’t keep working on ourselves. We learn not to condemn ourselves.
Can you look in a mirror and say “I love you” meaning it with your whole heart? You have to look at yourself as the Divine sees you, as you were created—perfect Love in form. Then you can look at your actions and ask yourself, “Did that action honor who I truly am?” If not, “Okay that is an experience I need not repeat.” Then LET IT GO.
I was on a retreat with Father Keating and he said “I have come to believe that if you feel guilt for more than two seconds, you are neurotic.” Well, I realized I was extremely neurotic since I was still beating myself up for things I did years ago. Guilt is meant to be a sign that you are acting out of alignment. Recognize that and let it go. If you live in guilt and condemnation of yourself, how can you love yourself?
Just a little side note: after this series I will discuss loving your neighbor as yourself. We have to accept ourselves warts and all in order to truly love others.
The more we live from Love, the simpler life becomes. We become more expansive and need fewer and fewer boundaries. We learn that we do not need permission from structure to attain it. We then can let go of hierarchies because we don’t need them to grow; we learn and grow from Spirit. Structure and hierarchies can fade away, and simplicity can step forward. The kingdom of Heaven becomes clear.
Thanks for your time.
Theresa Contaxis 